May 16, 2013 - The Anti-Phishing Working Group is calling for a global, co-ordinated response to the threat posed by mobile malware and an emerging underground criminal marketplace lured by an expansion in m-payments and banking.

In the coming years, global mobile payments are predicted to exceed $1.3 trillion presenting a 'motherlode' of opportunity for cybercrime gangs who are attracted to the inherent vulnerabilities in the mobile device marketplace says the APWG.

APWG mobile fraud research coordinator Jart Armin says: "On one hand we can see just one example of a major European bank that in early 2012 had 100,000 mobile banking users, and by April 2013, 4 million. In contrast, there were around 50 generally known samples of mobile malware in 2010, rising in 2013 to some 30,000 samples."

The Group has issued a whitepaper that defines these malware markets and demonstrates the modus operandi of an emerging underground economy.

Types of malware and attack methods under analysis include: spyware, phishing direct attacks, Trojans, worms, apps delivered through malware, pocket botnets and blended attacks, many of which are designed to steal or pilfer money from users.